10. Harrison
HARRISON
Later that evening, Harrison looked around the big table and felt a sense of belonging that he’d missed.
Dinner had been delicious and the conversation had flowed easily. From farm stories to school tales from the kids, everyone had something to contribute and everyone was interested in what the others had to say.
Now that the meal was finished, they were all pulling back chairs and patting their bellies.
No one ever went without at Aunt Alice’s house, not even in the hard years.
Back then, they might have had less meat on the table and more produce from the neighboring farms. But Alice and Joe Cassidy always managed to fill empty bellies and soothe lonesome hearts.
Harrison had never left this table sad or hungry.
Katie sat beside him now, her eyes sparkling with interest as Nick told a funny story about Zipper the dog, and his first visit to this house.
Seeing her like this was all Harrison had hoped for.
There were more kids here now than when they first arrived, but Katie had bonded a little with Nick when the house was quiet, and now she seemed to be following his lead, perfectly at home and willing to keep her attention on the scene in front of her instead of retreating inward, even though there was a whole crew of children around her.
And she wasn’t the only one who seemed to be feeling right at home.
Mal, seated across from him, was smiling at Nick’s story, her green eyes dancing with humor.
She had marched right in, rolled her sleeves up, and started helping.
And the moment she’d shared with Aunt Alice had touched Harrison’s heart.
She belongs here, a little voice whispered in his mind.
Maybe it was right.
Mal tossed her head back to laugh, sending her fiery ponytail over her shoulder like a waterfall of flames, and he felt his heart squeeze.
Would it be so bad to fall for her?
“Well, shall we carry these dishes out?” Joe asked, moving to stand when Nick’s story was done.
“Wait,” Katie said, shooting to her feet. “The scones.”
“Oh, Katie,” Mal said. “You’re a lifesaver, thank you for remembering. But maybe everyone’s still too full from dinner?”
“We could bring them out in a little bit with the coffee, if you think that’s a good idea,” Aunt Alice said to Katie. “Most grownups like something sweet with their coffee.”
“Okay,” Katie said, nodding.
Harrison felt a wave of pride in his daughter. She really was doing so well here.
He wasn’t sure if it was knowing that she was among family, or if it was the particular warmth that Alice and Joe Cassidy cultivated as easily as the apples in the orchard and the trees on the hill. But Katie seemed like she was blossoming.
Everyone began moving at once, in the usual Cassidy way, passing dishes and pans and forming an assembly line in the kitchen to get everything washed up and put away.
As they worked, the kitchen filled with laughter and the sounds of water splashing and silverware chiming in the sink.
If he closed his eyes, it could be any summer of his childhood all over again, and he would be standing here with skinned knees and mud splatter from the creek on his t-shirt, his belly full and his heart eager to finish the clean up so they could play ghost-in-the-graveyard outside, or make sugar cookies, or sit around the fire while Joe Cassidy told pirate stories, complete with sea shanties sung at full voice while Aunt Alice smiled at him like he was the most wonderful man in the world.
The kitchen was a little too crowded for any more hands, so Harrison headed out to the family room and made himself useful by feeding a few more logs onto the fire.
“She’s a nice girl,” Joe Cassidy said, his deep voice soft in the cozy space.
“Mallory?” Harrison asked, knowing the answer already.
“I’ve never known her to go out with anyone in particular,” Joe said, nodding. “Must mean you’re pretty special.”
Harrison opened his mouth to say that they were just friends.
“I haven’t dated since Penny,” he heard himself admit instead. “I never thought I would, at least not until Katie was grown.”
“That’s a long time, cowboy,” Joe replied with a funny smile. “And you’re still a young man.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to be a boyfriend,” Harrison said, casting his eyes down to the dancing flames. “I hardly know how to be a father.”
“Now listen,” Joe said, wrapping a hand around Harrison’s shoulder. “That little girl of yours is doing just fine—you’re doing a great job with her. And there’s nothing to know about being a boyfriend. Just follow your heart. You’re not reinventing the wheel.”
Harrison’s gaze went back to Mal, drawn to her like a magnet. She was drying off the mashed potato bowl with Katie by her side, and smiling at something Natalie was saying.
Would it really be so hard to be good to her?
She’s not the only one you have to worry about.
“I’m not sure how Katie would feel,” he said, turning back to Joe.
“I think she’d be just fine,” Joe said with a funny smile.
“Dad,” Katie called out, running over. “Great-aunt Alice just started the coffee. Can we get out Mal’s scones for the taste test? Mal said to ask you.”
“Sure,” Harrison told her, pleased to see her still smiling and excited. “Let’s do it.”
Joe nodded to him as they headed to the kitchen to grab the bakery box.
“Now Katie,” Aunt Alice said. “I thought you might like to make the taste test official.”
“Okay,” Katie said. “How do I do that?”
Aunt Alice led her off while Harrison opened the box. Inside, the beautiful scones had been cut into thick slices, which he was certain would encourage people to try both kinds.
“Here,” Mal said, heading over with a platter. “Alice wants me to use her Nutcracker tray.”
The large, familiar piece featured a scene from The Nutcracker, with a girl in a pink tutu and the Nutcracker prince leaping toward her. He watched as Mal artfully arranged the scone slices on it.
A moment later, Katie reappeared with a clipboard in her hands.
“Now I can write down what everyone likes best,” she said excitedly.
“Very official,” Mal said, looking impressed.
Katie’s eyes lit up.
“Shall we walk around with the tray?” Mal offered.
“Yes,” Katie said.
The two of them took off and Harrison watched as they started with Hope, offering her samples of each type of scone.
She took them happily, and the three of them chatted and smiled as she enjoyed the treat, bending to give Katie her vote when she was finished.
Harrison realized the job was going to get Katie interacting with everyone here. And the clipboard was a nice touch on Aunt Alice’s part. It gave Katie something to do with her hands if she felt nervous, and something to retreat into if she didn’t want to socialize.
The two of them turned to Cal, who was seated on one of the stools. He hopped down and took samples, even bending to talk with Katie some.
Cal was the local sheriff, and his son Justin was here someplace, running around with the other kids.
Angel, his wife, was probably walking baby Mia around.
Mia would be just over a year old now. In the photo of the four of them that had been tucked in their family Christmas card, she was completely adorable, with the cutest dimples.
“Hey,” Shane and Natalie’s daughter Rumor yelled to Katie as she dashed into the kitchen. “Did your mom make enough for the kids to do a taste test?”
She thinks Mal is Katie’s mom.
His eyes went to his daughter, his heart breaking for her at the reminder that her mom wasn’t around.
But she had a funny little smile on her face, and she didn’t bother to correct the other little girl. She simply nodded.
“We’ve got enough for everyone,” Mal said, after a moment, seemingly not wanting to correct Rumor if Katie hadn’t. “Come on over and give them a try.”
Rumor beckoned to the back stairwell and a crew of Cassidy kids came pouring down, plenty that Harrison recognized from the family photos that came in Christmas cards and emails, and just as many that he’d never seen before.
Katie held onto her clipboard for dear life. But whenever someone gave her their selection, she made eye contact and noted down their answer.
And Mal glanced down at her here and there, the pride on her face as warm as the gratitude in Harrison’s heart.
When all the samples were gone, and the results tallied up, the kids disappeared upstairs, taking Katie with them.
“She’s fitting right in, isn’t she?” Aunt Alice asked, smiling at Harrison over her coffee mug.
“This place makes people feel at home,” he allowed. “I know I always did.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she said, her eyes serious. “We expect to see you here for Sunday dinners from now on.”
“Only if you’ll let us know what we can bring,” he said.
“You bring that sweet Mallory Fisher,” Aunt Alice said quietly. “She needs family around her. She took her mother’s loss hard. It’s good to see her smiling.”
“We’re not really… I mean, we aren’t…” he said stupidly, unable to believe that after having had one conversation about this tonight he wasn’t better prepared for a second.
“Well see to it that you are,” his aunt told him firmly. “I can’t believe she wasn’t married years ago. She did carry a torch for the Hawkins boy, but you’re a much better match.”
“How?” Harrison heard himself ask.
“Declan is a fine young man,” Aunt Alice said. “But Mallory deserves someone who appreciates her, someone who looks at her the way you do.”
Harrison’s jaw almost dropped. He thought he’d been doing a pretty good job of hiding his feelings.
“Don’t worry,” Aunt Alice said, her eyes twinkling. “I don’t think she’s noticed yet. But only because she’s trying her best not to.”
Harrison nodded slowly.
“Anyway,” Aunt Alice said. “I won’t tell you how to run your life, but now that everyone knows the Hawkins boy is off the market, it’s probably going to be open season on that young lady. She’s got plenty of admirers in this town, believe me.”